Of Ferris Wheels and Conquered Fears
by little-bit-dorky
Summary: Olivia did not like fairgrounds. And she did not like heights. And yet there she found herself. At the fair. On a Ferris Wheel. With Wendell. Why did she agree to do this again?


**Hello lovely people, hope you all are doing sunshiningly brilliant =) This is so not one of my best, in fact if I were to rank it I'd say probably one of my worst, but I am trying to overcome that scourge known as writer's block (which eats babies, it's that evil)... But please read and review and such anyways...**

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I don't own anything, not Lemonade Mouth, not Disney, not even a fairground...**

Olivia did not like fairgrounds.

She was sure she had once, back when candy-floss was alluring and spinning teacups were exhilarating, back when her family was not as messed up as it now was, but after one's mother dies and one's father gets arrested certain things, family things, things that you had once done together, unbroken, happy, things like fairgrounds, tended to lose a fairly significant amount of appeal and get locked away in that compartment in the back of your mind filled with things you are sure you enjoyed, once. And so when Stella Yamada, always game for anything exciting, had announced, bouncing on the balls of her feet, that the fair was coming to town and that they were bringing a roller-coaster, yes, roller-coaster, another shudder-inducing factor of fairgrounds, Olivia had sighed and bit her lip, and hoped, for once, that this would not be something that Lemonade Mouth would do together, that this 'going to the fair' idea would stay in the realm of things to do with the family rather than things to do with your best friends. When it had turned out that, no, they were planning on making a day of it, and Charlie had declared that he would eat so many hotdogs that he would barf and Mo and Scott made some sickeningly adorable comments about the 'Tunnel of Love' she had twisted her hands about each other and shook her head, making possibly the world's worst excuse about homework and helping her Gram about the house. But then Stella had mouthed 'please?' and Mo, Scott and Charlie had looked at her all imploringly and Wen had said "c'mon. It'll be fun," and it had reminded her so much of when they had convinced her to join the band and, really, when push came to shove, there wasn't much that she wouldn't do for Wen when he gave her that look, that 'please? For me?' look. And so, here she was, the fairground...

"Oh. My. God! Would you look at the size of that roller-coaster?"

Stella and Charlie high-fived triumphantly. This was awesome. Stella had always loved the fair, even though she thoroughly opposed the use of animals in the circus acts and didn't really like the idea of side-shows. But she could, with some difficulty, put that aside, because fairs? They rocked. Some of her best memories were of going to fairgrounds with her parents before her brothers were born, rocketing up into the air on the roller-coasters, hurtling around and around on the spinning teacup rides, eating toffee apples and candy-floss and hotdogs until she puked, winning teddy bears at the games stalls. And she was sure that if fairgrounds rocked with her family, they would be even more incredible with her friends. She took a deep breath and took in her surroundings. Charlie was already eyeing up a hotdog stand with a painfully hungry look in his eyes, Mo and Scott were whispering to each other, Mo pulling on Scott's hand, nodding her head in the direction of the 'House of Mirrors', whilst he seemed more interested in the games stalls to their left. Stella herself had eyes only for the roller-coaster. She looked over at Wen and Olivia, who had hung back a bit. Wen had his hand lightly placed on her arm. She was looking at the ground and he took a step closer to her and brushed some of the hair out of her face. She looked up at him, and then, after a moment, nodded and turned heel to walk inside the fairground, her arm occasionally brushing his, his face reddening. Stella didn't know why she was so reluctant, or what Wen had said to make her join them, but all the same she was glad that they were all there together. Then Charlie grabbed Stella's hand and dragged her towards the hotdog stand and Mo and Scott, argument settled, went in the direction of the games stalls leaving Wen and Olivia standing awkwardly just inside the entrance.

"So... What do you want to do first, seeing as we were so ceremoniously ditched by the others?"

Wen was trying, she got that. Really, she totally got that he was trying and she was being a stick in the mud and he was looking at her with such concern that she put on a beam and shrugged, trying to ignore the smell of sweat and sugar and corn syrup that brought memories flooding back. He grabbed her hand, and, for a moment, Olivia thought that maybe the fair wouldn't be so bad after all. Anything would seem better with Wen holding her hand. The tips of her ears were reddening as he led her in the direction that Scott and Mo had gone, promising that he'd win her something, or make an attempt at least. She bit back a smile as they reached the basketball hoops. This ought to be interesting. He pulled a crumpled dollar bill out of the pockets of his faded chords, and handed it over to the bored looking youth manning the stall. The boy rubbed his hand over his face wearily and explained the rules of the game in a monotonous voice. Wen raised his eyebrows at her with a smile and accepted the grimy orange ball. He aimed the ball theatrically, causing Olivia to bite back a giggle, and threw it at the net.

Miss.

He shrugged and muttered something about the fact that, hey, he can't be good at everything, right? He aimed again and missed for a second time. Olivia shook her head. He was getting that determined look he sometimes got, when he was dead-set certain that he was right or that he would win an argument, no matter how hard it would be. He handed over another dollar to the guy behind the stall and tried again. And again. Finally, after much effort and Olivia's laughing encouragement he managed to sink the ball into the net. Swish. Olivia gamely applauded; blushing as he gallantly presented her with a rather dilapidated looking pink bunny, the only thing he was allowed to win with his paltry efforts. She hugged the stuffed toy to her chest for a moment, eyes closed, and Wen was struck, as he was always struck, every moment he looked at her, by just how beautiful she was, by just how much he'd do anything, and he did mean anything, to keep this girl happy, to make her smile, even embarrass himself completely trying to win her a stuffed animal at a carnival.

The six of them met up again after that, Mo and Scott gushing about the Love Tunnel or whatever, Charlie looking a little worse for wear, but nevertheless clutching a stick of cotton candy, Stella looking like a kid in a candy store. Wen surveyed the group and smiled. He was lucky to have found such people to fill his life. Olivia had helped him see that, though he'd never told her so, and he didn't think she'd realised. Accepting Sydney had meant acknowledging that maybe his life, the life that he had so not wanted to be changed, uprooted, moulded into something new, by the arrival of his father's new wife, his before-Lemonade-Mouth, pre-wedding life, had perhaps been a little more empty than he cared to admit. And now here he was, with four best friends, being able to do something that inspired him every day, with a complete family and the girl he loved, yes loved, standing next to him, clasping an admittedly decrepit nauseatingly pink stuffed rabbit that he had won for her. Life was pretty sweet.

Olivia would have to admit, under duress, that she was having fun. Not performing-at-Madison-Square-Garden levels of fun, but fun nonetheless. After all, Wen was there, so really she couldn't complain. Or that's what she thought up until the very moment that the dreaded, deplorable, horrific suggestion that was 'let's go on the Ferris Wheel' came up. Because, seriously, when you take something you hate, fairgrounds, and the add something you fear, heights, the small amount of fun that you were previously having does tend to evaporate and leave you with nothing more than earth-shaking, bone-crushing, hide-under-your-bed-in-case-the-monsters-in-your-closet-come-out-to-get-you kinds of fear. Bu then Wen gave her that look again and Stella all but dragged her to the line and Mo was bouncing up and down with excitement and even Scott, who was supposedly cool, looked amped to get on that spinning form of torture and she couldn't really say no after all of that, and so she found herself, sitting next to Wen, as always seemed to happen, clutching desperately at the bar which was lowered onto their laps, trying to pretend that she was not scared and this was not happening and, oh god, were they beginning to move?

Wen looked at Olivia's death-grip on the bar. Her knuckles were beginning to show stark white against her skin and her face was taking on a greenish tinge that he hoped would not result in anything more. Her eyes were screwed shut, her nose crinkling up towards her eyebrows, her lips pursed in a grim line. If he had known that she was this scared, he probably wouldn't have taken her up here, although he had always loved Ferris Wheels, the height giving him the chance to look at the world differently, to slow down, perspective, his father had wisely told him, when he was seven and trying to explain why he wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel for the hundredth time that day, despite the fact that it was getting dark and little Georgie was beginning to cry. "Olivia?" she shook her head and mumbled something about not being up there, being safe on the ground, the ground which was stable and was not moving. He placed one hand over hers and used the other to turn her face towards his. "Liv, look at me, just at me, come on, you need something to distract you, closing your eyes will just make it worse" She shook her head again, but then slowly opened one eye, and then the other.

"Why'll closing my eyes make it worse?" she whispered and he shrugged and choked out some crap about it making her feel the movement even more. He couldn't really think, let alone formulate coherent sentences when her face was so close to his and their hands entwined like they were. "Distractions," she murmered and he nodded, absent-mindedly tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. And then, because he couldn't help it, couldn't help himself, couldn't stop himself, even if he tried, despite the fact that this might change everything and he might lose his best friend because of it, because more than anything, that's what she was, he lent forward and kissed her. She stilled for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his reddish-blond hair. It was sweet and slow and they both were so unbelieving of it, but oh was it right and perfect and wonderful and a long time coming. They didn't even notice that the spinning had stopped, because, really, they were spinning in their own world, around and around, up into the stratosphere. A sharp hand and a gruff grunt brought them down and they descended the steps of the ride, arm in arm, both as red as each other. Charlie sighed and took out his wallet, slapping twenty bucks into the awaiting palm of Stella Yamada, who was grinning triumphantly, muttering that couldn't they have waited another month to get together, because then he would've won the bet. Scott clapped Wen on the shoulder and Mo grabbed both of them in an excited hug.

Later, when they were watching the circus performance, the highlight of fairgrounds everywhere, watching as the tight-rope walker did death-defying stunts dangerously high up in the air, with Wen's hand in hers and music flowing through her brain, she couldn't help but think that maybe, ok, definitely, fairgrounds weren't so bad, after all.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. Remember: Reviews = Love =)**


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